Shell slammed for ‘outrageous’ pay and bonuses package of up to £21m for ex-boss

Holly Williams, PA Business Editor
Thu, 9 March 2023 

Shell has fuelled calls for a higher windfall tax on the sector after the oil giant revealed that its ex-boss saw his pay package soar to £9.7 million last year and is in line for further potential payouts of more than £11 million.

The company’s annual report showed that former chief executive’s Ben van Beurden’s pay jumped by 53% in 2022, including a £2.6 million annual bonus and a £4.9 million long-term shares award on top of his £1.4 million annual salary.

Mr van Beurden – who was replaced by Wael Sawan at the start of 2023 – is also set to pick up another £2.13 million this year for advisory work and loss of office, plus a maximum possible £1.8 million pro-rata bonus dependent on company performance, as well as a potential £7.4 million in long-term awards for 2021 and 2022 share plans.

It comes after the oil giant posted a record 84.3 billion US dollars (£71.1 billion) in core profit for 2022 as it benefited from soaring energy prices, branded “obscene” at the time amid heavy criticism over the amount of tax paid by the group.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey condemned the pay package as “outrageous” and called for an increase in windfall taxes on the sector.

He said: “It is outrageous that oil and gas bosses are raking in millions in bonuses while families struggle to heat their homes.

“Rishi Sunak’s refusal to properly tax these eye-watering bonuses and record profits is mind-boggling and shows how out of touch he is.

“It is completely unfair at a time when the Conservative Government is choosing to put people’s energy bills up.

“Whether it is executive bonuses or soaring profits, the money being made out of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s illegal war should be helping struggling families, not oil and gas barons.”

Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness said Mr van Beurden’s 2022 pay package is 294 times the UK’s median salary of £33,000.

Ben van Beurden was chief executive of Shell for nearly a decade (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness, said: “Shell’s CEO earnt in one year what a typical UK worker would earn in six lifetimes.”

“It’s a sign of just how broken our energy system is,” she added.

The NGO is urging the Government to change the windfall tax on the oil and gas sector to also cover executive bonuses.

“We’re calling on the UK Government to implement a people-first windfall tax in next week’s Spring Budget which includes executive bonuses, and to ensure a rapid transition to homegrown renewable energy sources that are cleaner and cheaper than oil and gas, and better for energy security,” Ms Harrison said.

BP is also expected to publish its annual report on Friday, which is set to reveal multimillion-pound bonuses for its boss, Bernard Looney.

The spotlight has been thrown on energy firms after a record-breaking set of annual results from the sector, which stoked controversy given the cost-of-living crisis affecting firms and businesses.

A spokesman for Shell said the former chief executive’s pay package is “considered the appropriate quantum for running a group of Shell’s scale and complexity”.

He said: “The CEO’s remuneration package is reviewed carefully on an annual basis against a range of UK and international companies, to ensure reward packages are appropriately positioned against market.”

He added: “We fully appreciate the difficulties that the cost-of-living crisis is causing many people across the world.

“Shell are taking steps to address it, such as doubling the hardship fund for vulnerable customers of our UK retail energy business.”

The group’s annual report also showed that Mr Sawan – Shell’s former head of gas and renewables – was appointed on a £1.4 million annual salary, in line with his predecessor, plus a potential annual bonus worth £1.75 million, or 125% of salary, and long-term shares worth up to a maximum potential of £4.2 million, or 300% of salary.

Profits ‘all but wiped out’ by windfall tax, says oil giant Harbour Energy

August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Thu, 9 March 2023 



The UK’s biggest oil and gas producer said it had seen a nearly eight-fold increase in its profit “all but wiped out” as the Government’s windfall tax on energy companies kicked in.

Harbour Energy said it would pay close to 1.5 billion dollars (£1.3 billion) due to the new rules, which were put in place last May amid surging energy prices.

As a result, and thanks to the company’s normal tax bill, Harbour’s pre-tax profit of 2.5 billion dollars (£2.1 billion) was reduced to eight million dollars (£6.7 million) after tax.

“The UK Energy Profits Levy, which applies irrespective of actual or realised commodity prices, has disproportionately impacted the UK-focused independent oil and gas companies that are critical for domestic energy security,” chief executive Linda Cook said.

“For Harbour, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, it has all but wiped out our profit for the year.”

Harbour has said that it plans to cut both jobs and investment due to the windfall tax, despite a loophole in the tax which would have allowed it to write off much of any new investments in the North Sea.

But it did not stop Harbour from handing cash to its investors, clubbing through 600 million dollars (£504 million) in shareholder distributions in 2022.

The windfall tax – officially called the Energy Profit Levy – was introduced last year to ensure that oil and gas producers in the UK’s North Sea were not able to massively benefit from the war in Ukraine.

It has been less impactful for oil and gas giants BP and Shell because most of their production comes from outside the UK, so is not covered by the tax.

But Harbour Energy is largely focused on extracting oil and gas off British shores, so a much larger percentage of its profits were impacted by the levy.

Harbour said it had produced an average of 208,000 barrels of oil equivalent every day in 2022, up 19% from the year before. Extracting each barrel cost 13.90 dollars (£11.69), a reduction of 8.5%.

“In our first full year as a publicly listed company, Harbour delivered materially higher production which – together with improved margins – enabled us to continue to deleverage and make material shareholder distributions,” Ms Cook said.

“We further developed our net-zero strategy, setting ourselves an interim target, and built significant momentum in our flagship Viking CCS project. Most importantly, we achieved all of this while improving our safety record.”

Fossil fuels received £20bn more UK support than renewables since 2015

Helena Horton Environment reporter
Thu, 9 March 2023 

Photograph: Oliver Dixon/Rex/Shutterstock

The UK government has given £20bn more in support to fossil fuel producers than those of renewables since 2015, the Guardian can reveal.

The research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, found that while renewable energy was given £60bn in support over that time, fossil fuel companies were given close to £80bn.

In 2020, renewable energy support was greater than fossil fuel support for the first time. However, fossil fuels have been receiving greater additional investment recently. From 2020 to 2021 they received an extra £1bn support from the government compared with 2020, a 10.7% increase. For renewable energy in the same year, total support for projects increased by just £1m, or 0.01%.

Analysis by the House of Commons library found that a fifth of the money given directly to the fossil fuel industry was to support new extraction and mining. In 2021, support for fossil fuel extraction rose by 20% to nearly £2bn.

Politicians have asked the government to put net zero at the heart of policy decisions instead of funding fossil fuel corporations.

Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat climate and energy spokesperson, said: “It is extremely alarming that the Conservative government has been giving these staggering amounts to the fossil fuel industry. Not only have the Conservatives failed to properly tax the record profits of the oil and gas giants, they have showered these companies with taxpayer money too.

“We have been through one of the toughest winters on record and the energy crisis is still biting hard. The government squandered the opportunity to shield us from these spiralling energy bills through their lack of long-term thinking. For years, they gave billions to the fossil fuel industry, rather than actually improving our energy security by investing properly in renewables.

“This is just yet more proof of the government’s legacy of failure on climate change. They need to get a grip and start putting net zero at the heart of all our policy decisions. It will grant us the energy-secure, green future we desperately need.”

She added that, when in the coalition government, the Liberal Democrats tripled renewable energy generation, and said the Lib Dems would also end new listings of fossil fuel companies on the London Stock Exchange and require existing fossil fuel companies to set out how they will transition to net zero.

Fossil fuel companies have been criticised for not investing sufficiently in renewables, despite getting tax breaks and funding from government. Shell and BP made £32bn and £23bn in profit last year respectively while energy bills rose. Shell invested nearly £10bn into oil and gas projects over the year, compared with just £3bn in its renewable energy division. Similarly, BP has announced that it is scaling back the ambition for its emission-cutting targets. Previously, the fossil fuel producer had said it wanted to cut emissions by 35-40% by 2030, but now it has committed to a 20-30% reduction.

A government spokesperson said: “This is utterly misleading analysis. The Climate Change Committee themselves have said we’ll still need some fossil fuels as part of our move towards the net zero target, which is why we must ensure we remain an attractive investment for all energy sectors, as we have consistently been for renewables.

“Our domestic oil and gas industry have a vital role ensuring energy security and the transition to net zero, and alongside that since 2010 the UK has seen more than a 500% increase in the amount of renewable electricity capacity connected to the grid, making the UK a world leader in offshore wind with the most installed capacity in Europe. This will play a key role in achieving net zero by 2050, and will create thousands of new jobs around the country.”

UN nuclear chief raises alarm over power outages at Ukraine plant

Thu, 9 March 2023 


The UN nuclear agency's chief warned on Thursday of the danger of repeated electricity outages at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant, after a new missile strike left it running on diesel generators.

Electricity is essential to operate pumps that circulate water to cool reactors and pools holding nuclear fuel.

"Each time we are rolling a dice," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the agency's board of governors.

"And if we allow this to continue time after time then one day our luck will run out."

Grossi has been in consultations with Kyiv and Moscow for several months to try to set up a protection zone around the plant, but the talks appear to have stalled.

"We must commit to protect the safety and security of the plant," Grossi said. "And we need to commit now. What we need is action.

"Let me remind you – this is the largest nuclear power station in Europe," he said.

Grossi noted this was the sixth time that the Zaporizhzhia facility had been cut off from the electricity grid since Russia captured it a year ago, and the first time since November.

"This cannot go on," he said, adding, "I am astonished by the complacency –- what are we doing to prevent this happening? he asked, vowing to pursue his efforts.

The strike came during a fresh wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine which killed at least nine people and led to power outages across the country.

"The last power line between the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP and the Ukrainian power system was cut off as a result of rocket attacks," the operator Energoatom said.

The emergency diesel generators can provide the facility's energy needs for 10 days, it said.

"The countdown has begun. If it is impossible to renew the external power supply of the station during this time, an accident with radiation consequences for the whole world may occur," Energoatom said.

Russian authorities that control the plant said diesel generators had been switched on following a "short-circuit" on power lines, without providing details.

anb/bg/bp/jmm

Movement rekindled to rename N.B. university connected to 'torturer' of Acadians

Wed, March 8, 2023


MONTREAL — A movement has been rekindled in New Brunswick to shed a francophone university's connection to Robert Monckton, a British military figure who played an active role in the imprisonment and deportation of thousands of Acadians.

More than 1,000 people from Canada's Acadian community — including dignitaries, academics and artists — have signed a petition to rename Université de Moncton, the country's largest French-language university outside Quebec.

“We have mobilized and are creating an irreversible movement," Acadian activist Jean-Marie Nadeau said in an interview Tuesday. "There has never been such a large and popular mobilization (on this issue) like the one we have."

The university was founded in 1963 and took the name of the City of Moncton, the location of one of its three campuses and the second-largest city in the province, after Saint John.

Moncton is also home to many of Canada's Acadians, whose ancestors were forcibly deported from the Maritimes after Great Britain won the Seven Years' War. Between 1755 and 1763 approximately 10,000 Acadians were expelled from their land by the British.

Nadeau said the debate to rename the university has resurfaced at least once a decade since the 1970s. The latest revival came after he wrote an essay on Feb. 7 in local newspaper Le Moniteur Acadien calling for the change. About one week ago, Nadeau and Jean-Bernard Robichaud — rector of the university from 1990 to 2000 — started a petition on social media to change the name of the school.

Acadian signatories include current and former politicians, chancellors, and lawyers, as well as novelist Antonine Maillet, singer-songwriter Edith Butler, musician Zachary Richard and filmmaker Renée Blanchar.

“We are doing this movement because we are tired of dragging the name of Monckton like a ball and chain attached to our university," Nadeau said. "Monckton was one of our main torturers and executioners-in-chief, responsible for the logistics of the deportation in 1755."

In the letter attached to the petition, Nadeau and Robichaud ask why the people in charge of the university continue to refuse to change the name.

“Is the name of our university consistent with its identity? For the signatories of this letter, the answer is an unequivocal no. You have the power to change this name to reflect the Acadian reality," the letter says.

Representatives for Université de Moncton did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The mayor of Caraquet, N.B., Bernard Thériault, also signed the petition. He said that as a French-speaking Acadian who graduated from Université de Moncton, it's time for change.

“The Acadian community is strong enough today to take on this change,” Thériault said, adding that the community had never clearly expressed its desire as strongly as it is doing now.

Nadeau said he was inspired by recent events across the country over the last few years, during which monuments to controversial historical figures were torn down and street names linked to them were changed.

He mentioned the Nova Scotia communities that removed from their property the name of former governor Edward Cornwallis, who issued a "scalping proclamation" in 1749 that offered a bounty to anyone who killed Mi'kmaq men, women or children.

Nadeau also cited the former Ryerson University — now Toronto Metropolitan University — which used to be named after Egerton Ryerson, who helped create the country's residential school system.

“So, we are also part of this new movement, and the time is right," Nadeau said. "The Acadian people stand tall and are proud, and by changing its name, l’Université de Moncton will be one of the most beautiful symbols of this rediscovered pride and dignity.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2023.

—

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Marisela Amador, The Canadian Press

The story of Evangeline [microform] : adapted from Longfellow

by Stokes, Winston, 1886-1950; 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882. Evangeline

Publication date 1913

Publisher Toronto : Copp, Clark

https://archive.org/details/cihm_991027

Evangeline

by Henry W. Longfellow

Publication date 1807-1882

Collection internetarchivebooks

https://archive.org/details/evangeline0000henr

Earthquakes at 2 Alaska volcanoes could signal eruption


In this photo provided by the Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey is the Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021. A swarm of earthquakes occurring over the past few weeks has intensified at a remote Alaska volcano dormant for over a century, a possible indication of an impending eruption. The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday, March 7, 2023, after the quakes became very vigorous. 

(Matt Loewen/Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey via AP) 


Thu, March 9, 2023

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A second volcano in remote Alaska is experiencing elevated earthquake activity this week, signaling an increased potential for eruption, officials said.

Earthquake activity near Takawangha Volcano increased over the past 48 hours and are continuing, Alaska Volcano Observatory officials said in a news release Thursday.

That volcano is west of Anchorage in the western Aleutian islands and about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Tanaga Volcano, which scientists said earlier this week had seen intensified earthquake activity.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the alert level to advisory status for Tanaga Volcano late Tuesday after the quakes became vigorous.

The observatory on Thursday raised the alert level to watch status for Takawangha Volcano.

Analysts at the observatory continue to monitor the situation closely. Up to several earthquakes per minute are occurring under Tanaga Island, where both volcanoes are located, the observatory said. The largest quake over the previous 24 hours was a magnitude 3.9 located under Tanaga Volcano.

No eruptive activity or signs of unrest was detected in satellite or other monitoring data.

The island is about 1,250 miles (2,012 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. There are no communities there, but Adak, a city of about 170 people on another island, is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) away and could see ashfall.

If one of the volcanoes were to erupt, it could be a problem for aircraft. The Aleutians are below the routes that jets fly between North America and Asia. Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and can cause airplane engines to shut down. Past eruptions had both ash clouds and viscous lava that moves slowly, much like what happened at Mount St. Helens in Washington state in 1980.

No historical eruptions are known from Takawangha but field work shows recent eruptions have occurred and it's possible historic eruptions attributed to Tanaga may instead have come from Takawangha, according to scientists.

The last eruption from Tanaga Volcano was in 1914.

Is Canada prone to a devastating earthquake? Answer isn't so simple

Nathan Howes
Wed, March 8, 2023 


Canada is certainly not immune to earthquakes, but what are the chances of deadly events on the magnitudes of the Turkey-Syria tremors occurring here?

The earthquakes in early February 2023 caused catastrophic damage, pegged at more than $100 billion in Turkey alone, and massive fatalities, which have since risen to more than 52,000. It's natural to then ponder about the potential of disastrous and deadly tremors in Canada in the future.

SEE ALSO: Turkey earthquake damage set to exceed $100 billion: UN agency

Mark Robinson, meteorologist and Storm Hunter at The Weather Network, spoke with Tiegan Hobbs, research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) -- the national organization for geoscientific information and research -- to get the answer.

Red Cross - Turkey and Syria donation appeal

Because earthquakes aren't as high of seismic hazards in Canada as they are in Turkey, we don't expect to get the same frequency or severity of tremors, Hobbs said.

"Here in Canada, it's a little bit different. We've got the Cascadia subduction zone on the West Coast and then [we] can also get what we think of as shallow, crustal earthquakes," said Hobbs.

The shallow earthquakes happen where the surface of the Earth is "just crushing around," she added. These tremors occur in Eastern Canada, in a zone stretching from the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River, which includes major cities like Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City.

The good news for Eastern Canada is these kinds of earthquakes are unable to register on a large-scale magnitude such as an 8 or 9, which happen in the Cascadia subduction zone, Hobbs noted.

CASCADIAZONE

The largest earthquake recorded in Eastern Canada was the Nov. 18, 1929 (7.2 magnitude) event off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Twenty-eight people perished after a tsunami rushed ashore.

"You really don't want them happening near a city, which, as we saw in Turkey, was a shallow, crustal earthquake that was quite big for [that type of tremor]," said Hobbs. "It happened near a populated centre and that's why it was such a devastating sequence of events."

Although there have been several large earthquakes in Canada, some occur in incredibly remote regions with no threat to life. Injuries, damage and the risk of deaths increase along the B.C. coast, however, with the hazard of a tsunami near the top of the list.

SUBDUCTIONZONE
Certain buildings don't hold up against earthquakes

The bigger the population and the more infrastructure a community has, the higher the risk of a disastrous earthquake, she said.

Bricks, or unreinforced masonry as they're categorized as, are examples of the types of infrastructure that won't offer much protection during a tremor. A wood building, on the other hand, tends to be a "really good performer" during earthquakes, she said.

"[It is] pretty flexible, so [when there] is shaking, the building can shake and that's just fine. A lot of our wood buildings are maybe one, two or three storeys, so you're not going to have some of the effects you have to worry about when you have high-rise buildings," said Hobbs.

GETTY: Emergency kit

(Getty Images)

While Canadians aren't as likely to experience catastrophic earthquakes, such as the ones that occurred in Turkey and Syria last month, it's always good to be prepared. This includes having an emergency kit, creating and reviewing an evacuation/earthquake plan, and practise dropping, covering and holding in a safe place.

Thumbnail courtesy of Getty Images.

With files from Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.

Follow Nathan Howes on Twitter.

Artists honour women, pay tribute to Turkey, Syria earthquake victims in Vancouver exhibit

Wed, March 8, 2023 

Artist Inanna Cusi says her painting of a woman's cracking body holding up the earth symbolizes women's strength and vulnerability. (Rafe Arnott/CBC - image credit)

Artists in Metro Vancouver are honouring women and paying tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in an exhibit for International Women's Day and the centennial anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

The exhibit, titled Women's Art On Women's Day, will be held at Simon Fraser University's Segal Building in Vancouver, featuring the works of 15 artists, all of them women.

Although preparations for the event began months ago, when the powerful earthquakes hit in February, the artists decided to change their projects, and work on paintings related to the quakes and the strength of women simultaneously.

"The quakes affected us deeply … I lost a very dear friend of mine," said Eser Ince, who moved to Canada from Turkey in 2011 and now lives in North Vancouver.

Rafe Arnott/CBC

Nilufar Moayeri, an Iranian-born artist who grew up in Istanbul, is organizing the exhibition with the Turkish-Canadian Society. Proceeds from the artists' paintings will go towards supporting survivors of the quake.

"After that painful tragedy, we were all prepared to paint a woman to show how strong they are," Moayeri said.

'I tried to capture the strength of women'

Moayeri's painting shows a woman's face in light and darkness. The dark side shows damaged buildings and people trying to help others out of the rubble, while the light side, full of blues and yellows, represents hope, she says.

Inanna Cusi, an Austrian-Mexican painter and filmmaker, will be showcasing a piece titled Gaia after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. It features the body of a woman carrying the planet. The body and the ground are full of cracks.

"I tried to capture the strength of women and how we are holding together the world but also the doom … the earthquake destroying our world and the hardships that we're enduring at the same time," she said.

"So I guess it's up to interpretation how optimistic or pessimistic you see it."

Rafe Arnott/CBC

Ince's painting shows a building full of cracks and diagonal lines, representing fault lines. A woman is seen at the bottom — an homage to the friend she lost in the earthquake.

Her friend was visiting her mother in a hospital in İskenderun when the earthquake struck.

"I was really deeply hurt and traumatized by what happened," Ince said.

Since the earthquakes shook southern Turkey and northern Syria one month ago, killing more than 45,000 people, hundreds of thousands of people are still in need of adequate shelter and sanitation, according to the United Nations. An appeal for $1 billion to assist survivors is only 10 per cent funded, hampering efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis.

About two million survivors have been housed in temporary accommodation or evacuated from the earthquake-devastated region, according to Turkish government figures. Around 1.5 million people have been settled in tents while another 46,000 have been moved to container houses.

Showcasing 'the power of women'

Moayeri and Ince say it's essential to showcase "the power of women" through the paintings, especially as part of celebrations of the Turkish Republic's centenary and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1923, Turkey started efforts to modernize and secularize the country, which included passing equality legislation. Turkish women got the right to vote in 1934.

"It's a very important day," Ince said.

For Moayeri, it's doubly important to create art that empowers women because of the women's movement in Iran that began in the fall of 2021.

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Protests were held around the world after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran's morality police, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

"As a woman," she said, "I always try to tell with my paintings that women are powerful.

Ontario mayors seek help, clarity from Ottawa to support Roxham Road asylum seekers

Wed, March 8, 2023


The mayors of three Ontario cities are calling on the federal government to help them support asylum seekers being transferred to their communities after entering the country through an unofficial border crossing in Quebec.

The leaders of Niagara Falls, Cornwall and Windsor say local supports are being stretched to capacity as migrants who crossed into Canada via Roxham Road arrive in increasing numbers. In addition to federal funding, they're seeking clarity from Ottawa on what lies ahead.

"We need to know the plan," Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said in an interview. "Don't just tell us the plan, let's develop it together."

Roxham Road is an irregular border crossing on a country road stretching from New York state to Quebec, about 50 kilometres south of Montreal. In 2021, 4,246 migrants entered Canada via Roxham Road, with that number jumping to nearly 40,000 last year, the federal government has said.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada said the government began transferring asylum claimants to various cities in Ontario in June last year, after Quebec voiced concerns the migrants were placing pressure on publicly funded services and accommodation.

The department said 7,131 people have been transferred to Ontario communities so far – 4,313 to Niagara Falls, 1,396 to Cornwall, 720 to Windsor and 702 to Ottawa.

"IRCC is now in the process of working with other provinces and municipalities to identify new destinations that have the capacity to accommodate asylum seekers," spokesman Remi Lariviere said, noting that Atlantic provinces have received a few dozen asylum seekers.

Diodati said the federal government initially approached his city last summer and said 87 hotel rooms were needed for asylum seekers.

"They didn't want this to be public so we thought that's fine, we'll do our part. Then it quickly went to 300, then 687, 2,000, and it's gotten much bigger," he said.

The city now needs Ottawa to provide guidance on how the community can support the growing number of asylum seekers, Diodati said.

Niagara Falls has also asked Ottawa for $5 million to support local food banks and legal aid groups, the mayor said.

In Cornwall, Mayor Justin Towndale is seeking similar support from the federal government.

He said his eastern Ontario city has been doing "the Canadian thing" and supporting the migrants but needs clarity on long-term plans.

"In this case, the initial communication wasn't there," Towndale said in a phone interview. "We were having meetings with IRCC on a regular basis but they weren't really giving us updates to their plan."

Cornwall has brought on more staff to support asylum seekers who have arrived, Towndale said, and the city is asking the federal government for $2 million to fund those extra city employees.

There are also concerns about the effects of having many hotel rooms in the city booked up by the federal government to house the asylum seekers, Towndale said. Cornwall recently lost two conferences because organizers couldn't find enough hotel rooms, he noted, and future sporting events hosted in the city could face similar issues.

In Niagara Falls, Diodati said there are concerns about fewer hotel rooms being available for tourists as summer approaches.

"Tourists fan out, they go to the restaurants, the attractions, the golf courses, the wineries," he said. "There's a lot of mom-and-pop operators in Niagara Falls that count on that rubber tire and the overnight traffic to visit the city."

Syed Hussan, the executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, criticized the suggestion that having migrants take up hotel rooms would hit tourism operations and other businesses hard.

"There's a lot of hysteria that's been generated," he said. "Part of this is the fact that these are poor, racialized Black, brown people who are walking in the downtowns of these tourist centres."

Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, said his city has been acting on the Canadian principle "to help people who need help."

"But at the end of the day, we have to find a pathway to do this in a sensible way, in a smart way," he said. "The city is feeling the strain."

Dilkens said, however, that having asylum seekers choose to settle in Windsor would be a benefit for the city.

"We may be able to find people who are skilled and want to work and that would be great for our local economy," he said.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada said Canada is continuing to work with the U.S. on strengthening the Safe Third Country Agreement.

The agreement prevents people who come to Canada from the U.S. via official land border crossings from claiming asylum in Canada. But if asylum seekers cross through unofficial border crossings, such as Roxham Road, they avoid the application of the agreement and can proceed with a claim for asylum.

The Ontario mayors say they are expecting more guidance from the federal government in the coming weeks, after U.S. President Joe Biden makes a visit to Canada this month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2023.

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press

'It is simply not true': Grocery CEOs push back at price-gouging allegations

Wed, March 8, 2023 

Empire Foods CEO Michael Medline, foreground, and Loblaws chairman and CEO Galen Weston both appeared before a parliamentary committee probing grocery prices on Wednesday.

 (Blair Gable/Reuters - image credit)

The heads of Canada's biggest grocery chains pushed back at allegations they are profiteering from high inflation on Wednesday, telling lawmakers that they aren't the cause of high food prices — and claiming their profit margins are as razor thin as ever.

"We are not profiting from inflation, it doesn't matter how many times you say it ... it is simply not true," said Michael Medline, the CEO of Empire Foods, which owns Sobeys, FreshCo, Farm Boy, Foodland and other chains.

Medline was speaking to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, which is probing the causes of food inflation, which has skyrocketed to its highest level in decades.

Do you have a question, experience or story tip to share? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.

Prices for food purchased at grocery stores increased by 11.4 per cent in the year up to January, according to Statistics Canada. That's almost twice the overall inflation rate of 5.9 per cent in that same period.

Medline was summoned to speak, along with his compatriots at rival Loblaws, led by Galen Weston, and Eric La Flèche, president and CEO of Metro, which owns Food Basics and other chains.

Together, those three grocery chains make up the majority of Canada's grocery industry, with thousands of stores across the country. Profits at all three firms are up sharply in the pandemic, but all three say their profit margins on food are razor-thin.

As overall inflation flattens, grocery prices continue to climb

"It is folly to suggest that an unprofitable grocery business is somehow better for customers," Medline said. "Like all Canadians, we look forward to seeing the end of this tough inflationary period."

Weston echoed that sentiment, insisting that higher profits at Loblaws are mostly due to higher sales in non-food items, such as discretionary spending at Shoppers Drug Mart, its Joe Fresh clothing line and its financial services arm.

"As unexpected as it may sound, grocery chains operate with extremely small profit margins, which means we have minimal influence on inflation," Weston said, adding that the profit margin on the company's grocery arm is about four per cent. "That means even if the industry had zero profits, a $25 grocery bill would still cost $24," Weston said, "so the claim that Canadian grocers can correct food price inflation is simply wrong."

Weston cited his company's highly publicized price freeze on thousands of No Name items during the holiday period. Critics have dismissed it as a publicity stunt, but Weston said that price freeze saved Canadians $45 million at the cash register for the three months it was in operation. He also said the company pushed back against price increases by refusing to accept $500 million in "unjustified cost increases" from suppliers.

He singled out items such as milk, butter, some cheeses and vegetable oil as products that the chain sells at a level that makes them unprofitable, in order to get customers into the store. "As a matter of interest, we lose money on every breast of chicken that we sell," Weston told reporters in a scrum outside the committee hall after he had finished testifying.

"So no matter how many times you read it on Twitter, the idea that grocers are causing food inflation is not only false, it's impossible," he said. "Our retail prices have not risen faster than our costs," he said.

La Flèche went further still, arguing that his company's profit margin on its food business is lower today than before.

"Our food profit margin has actually decreased, though it's been offset by a higher pharmacy product margin," he told the committee in French.

"Focusing on grocers will not solve the problem of food inflation because we are not causing it and we're not benefiting from it."

'Too much profit'

Weston was the target of a number of testy exchanges with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who has been drawing attention to the profits in Canada's grocery sector for months.

Singh cited a recent academic research paper that tabulated, based on its recent financial results, Loblaws took in a profit of about $1 million per day above what it saw before the pandemic. "How much profit is too much profit?" Singh asked Weston, repeatedly.

"Reasonable profitability is an important part of operating a successful business," Weston replied. He added that the company reinvests those profits into opening new stores and hiring more employees. "It doesn't go to me. It goes back into this country."

Stuart Smyth, a professor of agri-food innovation at the University of Saskatchewan, says that consumers are noticing high food prices at grocery stores because they shop so frequently, unlike other products.

"There is a little bit of price inflation going on, certainly within the retail sector, but I'm not convinced that is the real driver of higher food prices," he told CBC News in an interview.

He said calls for a tax on excess profits in the grocery sector are misguided, since it is employees and investors who will pay that price. "We face the challenge of higher food prices but do we want our investments to be investing in companies that are not trying to be profit maximizing?"

Biden's big, bold green spend sends shockwaves around the world, including Canada

Wed, March 8, 2023 

U.S. President Joe Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. (Leah Millis/Reuters - image credit)

U.S. President Joe Biden's climate bill is only six months old, but its impact on the energy industry around the world continues to grow as pressure mounts on countries to offer similar subsidies toward green energy or risk losing out on valuable investment dollars.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a multi-billion-dollar program that pledges government dollars toward developing low-carbon energy. The policy is aimed at boosting the country's manufacturing sector and takes aim at China's dominant position in the clean energy technology supply chain.

The legislation is regarded as the most ambitious climate bill ever passed in the U.S. Still, the IRA could force governments around the world, including Canada, to introduce their own sweeping series of subsidies and have a much larger impact on climate change.

It's a big wake-up call for world leaders, said Marcel van Poecke, head of Carlyle International Energy Partners, a global investment firm based in Washington, D.C.

"That is going to be very, very powerful, and in Europe, people are shocked, but I think it's exactly what we need," he said while on stage at CERAWeek, an energy conference in Houston.

There are many facets of the IRA, such as tax incentives aimed at increasing the manufacturing of wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle batteries. There are also subsidies to promote the development of hydrogen, biofuels and carbon capture and storage facilities. The financial supports are estimated to total nearly $60 billion US ($82.5 billion Cdn) over the next 10 years.

"The IRA will have the effect of really attracting capital back to the U.S. for the reasons and the results that it sort of needs," Tengku Muhammad Taufik, CEO of Petronas, told the CERAWeek audience.

CERAWeek by S&P Global

The IRA is a policy that is easy to understand and offers clear incentives for industry, compared to a more complex system in Europe, said Sanjiv Lamba, the chief executive of Linde, a European industrial gas company.

"There's no denying the fact that suddenly people have woken up with the IRA and said 'Hey, we can do a lot more,'" said Lamba, who doesn't think the European Union will be able to match the level of subsidies.

Carrot vs. stick

Canada has offered subsidies to promote low-carbon sources of energy, although its main policy to promote the decarbonization of the energy sector is the carbon tax. Putting a price on pollution is described by some experts as using a stick to motivate industry, while the IRA is like dangling a carrot.

"You can really feel that the rest of the world is looking at the Inflation Reduction Act and saying, 'How are we going to participate?' and that will help change the pace and accelerate transition," said Lance Uggla, the chief executive of BeyondNetZero, a climate-focused private equity fund. Uggla is a former bank executive with TD and CIBC.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

In Canada, oilsands companies are pressuring the federal government to increase the level of financial support for building and operating carbon capture and storage facilities. Ottawa has already introduced a tax credit, although the government has admitted the policy is not as robust as the IRA.

Oilsands executives have formed a group called Pathways to Net Zero to work together cutting emissions. It's also seeking provincial government subsidies in Alberta.

Cenovus Energy chief executive Alex Pourbaix spoke with CBC News in Houston about subsidies for a proposed carbon capture project in northern Alberta, saying it will need support from both levels of government to move ahead.

"People just need to be very thoughtful about what failure would mean," he said. "What we need is a little bit of help on the order of what we're seeing in the U.S. with the IRA, and I would be very, very surprised if people didn't see the value."

Canadian response

The next federal budget could include a commitment of more cash aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions and promoting low-carbon sources of energy.

In October, the government hinted at further action to boost subsidies as part of its fall economic statement, which said, "Canada will need to do even more to secure our competitive advantage and continue creating opportunities for Canadian workers. This challenge has become even more pressing with the United States' recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act."

The oilpatch earned record profits in 2022 as commodity prices spiked following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The industry has faced criticism for not using those profits to move quickly enough to respond to climate change.

Some industry executives in the U.S. have questioned the effectiveness of the IRA because of the permitting process in the country, which they say takes much too long. The climate law has plenty of potential, but it could stumble without improvements to speed up the permit system for energy projects.

It is "procedurally impossible" for the country to transition to cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy, said ConocoPhillips chief executive Ryan Lance, even if the IRA makes those types of projects more economical.